Seal-lock



W, K. EDGAR. SEAL LOCK.

No. 885,278. Patented June 7, 1888.

llivrrn STATES `VILLIAM K. EDGAR, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO.

`sean-LOCK.

srnorFIoa'rIoN forming par; of Letters Patent No. eo 5,278, dated 'June7, ieee.

Y Application led June 9, 1897. Serial No. 640,013. (llo model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM K. EDGAR, a citizen of the United States,residing at Colorado Springs, in the countyof El Paso and State ofColorado, have invented a new and useful Seal-Lock, of which thefollowing is a specification. y

Theinvention relates to seal-locks, and particularly to seals for use inconnection with lock constructions such asfor similar to those shown inthe patent granted-to myself and lV. L. Sebring, No. 563,916, on July14,1896,

and the patent granted tome, No. 584,544, on J une 15, 1897, wliereinthesealis engaged and held in place by means of a locking-pin disposed tooperate perpendicular to the plane ofthe seal and performing theadditional function of securing the locking-bolt in its extended oroperative position, said locking-pin engaging the seal from the rear andpreferably projecting through an opening in the seal to lie at its frontend in or contiguous to the plane of the front surface of the seal andhence visible to the official whose duty it is to inspect the locks toindicate whether or not the seal is properly secured in place.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and efficientconstruction of frangible seal adapted to be engaged by a locking-pinapproaching the same from its rear side and having an opening throughwhich the front end ofthe locking-pin is adapted to project. y

A further object of the invention is to provide a seal wherein theopening forthe' reception of the front end ofthe locking-pin is oflarger diameter than the locking-pin to prevent the dishonestsubstitution for the lockin g-pin of a false locking-pin end orplugconstructed to resemble the front end of a locking-pin and arranged inthe seal to mislead those officials whose duty it is to inspect andinquire into the correct locking of cars or similar receptacles withwhich the locks are equipped. If the opening in the seal through whichthe extremity of alocking-pin projects from therear is of equal orapproximately equal size with the locking-pin, it is possible byinserting a false locking-pin end or plug into the opening of the sealto introduce the seal into its proper place or seal-seat in the lock,while the locking-pin proper remains in its repressed or inoperativeposition, said seal being temporarily fastened in place byreadily-detachable meansknown to accomplices of those Who have wilfnllyinserted the plugged seal. With this arrangement the only operationnecessary to gain access to the car or receptacle provided with thelool; is to remove the means employed for temporarily securing the sealin its place, dislnount the seal intact, and operate the lock; but byemploying an opening in the seal which is of larger diameter than theextremity of the locking pin the introduction of a plug of suitable sizeto iill the opening would be too large to be mistaken for the end of thelocking-pin, and,` furthermore, any plugging of the opening in the sealwhich would prevent a view of the contiguous interiorof the seallockWould be apparent to inspectors inquiring into the correctness of theoperation of locking. a f

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appearin the,following description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in` Fthe appended claims. L I

In the drawings, Figurelis aperspective view of a seal-flock, showing inoperative position a seal constructed 'inaccordance with the invention.AFig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detailView ofthe seal detached. Figj4 is a vertical sectionof a portion of thelock, showing a modiiied construction of seal wherein the opening is ofa size to snugly it the end of the locl ing-pin. Fig. 5 is a similarview showing the `opening in a sealplug in front of the repressedlocking-pin and secured in place by means other'than .those provided foruse in the legitimate operation of the device, as when car-door locksare manipulated through collusion between or with railroad employees.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

The lock in connection with which thepseal 1 is employed includes aseal-seat 2, provided atits top and sides with ovcrhangingflanges 3 andbeing accessible for the introduction IOO of the seal at one sideonly-namely, in the constructionillustrated at its lower side-and a bolt4, which is longitudinally slotted, as at 5, to receive the reducedportion or neck 6 of a locking-pin 7, mounted for movement perpendicularto the plane of the seal-seat and also perpendicular to the bolt, saidbolt being adapted to engage a staple 9, and thereby secure a hasp 10.The locking devices for the locking-pin are concealed in a rearwardextension or mortised portion 11 of the lockcasing, whereby said lockingdevices are inaccessible from the front of the lock to preventtampering; but as said locking devices are similar to those shownparticularly in said former patent, N o. 584,544, granted June 15, 1897,any specific description thereof is unnecessary, except in so far as itis desirable to state that they include a releasing-pin 12, whichprojects forward parallel with the locking-pin and terminates in acavity 13 in rear of the plane of the seal-seat, where it is fitted witha pivotal handle or ring 14, adapted to lie in rear of the plane of theseal and at one point between the locking-pin and that side of theseal-seat which is opposite to its open side or opposite to that sidethrough which the seal' is introduced.

It will be seen that in so far as the construction of the lock isconcerned the locking-pin secures both the bolt and the seal in theirnormal or operative positions and is itself secured by locking devicesconnected with a re leasing pin or trip which projects forward to apoint contiguous to the plane of the rear side of the seal and isprotected or guarded against tampering by the seal.

The seal, which is preferably made of clay or similar frangiblematerial, is provided at a suitable point in alinement with thelocking-pin with an opening 15, through which the front end of thelocking-pin is adapted to extend when in its normal position, wherebyafter the extension of the locking-pin the seal may not be'removed fromits seat except it be destroyed, even the breaking of the seal in halfnot allowing the removal of any portion thereof except that which isbetween the locking-pin and the open side of Ithe seat. The removal ofsaid outer portion of the seal will not allow the inner portion, or thatwhich is located between the locking-pin and that side of the seat whichis opposite toits open side, to be displaced. l

In Fig. 4 I have ,shown aseal in which the opening is of a sizeapproximately equal to that of the front end of the locking-pin; butwhile the object in allowing the front end of the locking-pin to projectforward through the opening in the seal to the front face thereof is toenable an inspector to see that the locking-pin is properly inengagement with the seal I am aware that it is possible when the openingin the seal is of equal size with the locking -pin to tamper with thelock through collusion with railroad employees. For instance, a falselocking-pin end or plug 16 (see Fig. 5) may be secured in the opening inthe seal and the latter placed in its seat without advancing thelocking-pin, and hence y locks.

without making use of the locking devices provided for securing said pinin its normal or operative position. The seal may be secured temporarilyin its proper position by means of a small plug or wedge 17 introducedbetween the lower edge of the seal and the contiguous surface of thecasing, as may be seen by reference to Fig. 5. With this arrangementwhen the proper time comes for opening the car by the accomplices of theperson who has improperly sealed the cars all that is necessary is towithdraw the wedge 17, remove the seal, and open the lock, whichobviously has not been properly locked, and

" which was only made to appear for the purposes of inspection to beproperly locked. \Vhen it is desired to restore the parts to theirproper positions after the car or receptacle has beenrifled, the sealmay be returned and the locking-pin properly engaged therewith, thefalse plug having previously been removed from the opening of the seal.

In order to guard against tampering with the lock in the manner aboveindicated, the preferred form of seal is made with an opening which insize is in excess of that necessary 4for the reception of thelocking-pin, whereby the contiguous portions of the sides of thelocking-pin are exposed therethrough and whereby any attempt to plug'the opening would be readily discernible, for the .reason that a plugof the size necessary to fill the enlarged opening would be too large tomislead any one inirusted with the inspection of the By reason of thelocking devices for the locking-pin being located in the mortised ICOextension of the lock-casing, and hence a considerable distance in rearof the plane of the bolt and seal-seat, the enlargement of the openingin the seal does not operate to impair the efciency of the lock. Theopening may be made of sufficient size, as vindicated in the drawings,to expose a portion of the ring or handle and the releasing pin or trip,and thereby show to the inspector that said parts are in their properpositions, without in any way affecting the security ofthe device, for

the reason that the releasing pin or trip cannot be advanced to'disengage the locking devices without first releasing the handle bywhich it is held repressed, and said handle cannot be released except,by removing every portion of the seal from its seat. If the seal isbroken sufficiently to remove the entire .lower portion thereof, asindicated by the broken dotted line ce of Fig. 1, and thus Wholly exposethe front end of the releasing pin or trip and more than half of thehandle or ring, the parts are still securely locked and will remain sountil the remaining portion of the seal, which is arranged between thelocking-pin and that side of the seat which is opposite to its openside, has been removed, this removal being possible of accomplishmentonly by breaking and thus destroying said upper or inner portion of theseal.

I-Ience by making an enlarged opening in IIO IZO

the seal-and by enlarged is meant an appreciable increase of sizewhereby the opening tits loosely on the extremity of the locking-pin-theintroduction of a false lockingpin end could be readily detected by itsdifference in size from the proper locking-pin, and therefore thecontiguous portions of the lock in rear of the plane of' the seal areexposed through the opening when the parts are properly engaged.

An important advantage of the construction of lock and seal set forth inthe foregoing specification is that the described relative arrangementof parts provides for a certain looseness of tit without in any wayreducing the security of the fastening, and 'hence enables the metalparts of the device to be manufactured wholly of castings and enablesthe manufacturer to dispense with machine-work, thereby reducing thecost, and hence the use of a large opening in the seal has an importantadvantage in addition to those hereinbefore mentioned, this advantageconsisting in the fact'that the area of the opening allows a certainlatitude for irregularities in the manufacture of the lock and enablesany seal having a large opening to be introduced and secured in placewithout requiring the operator to search for the opening. Thus the sealmay be inserted and pushed to place by one hand-of the operator, and atthe same time the locking-pin may be advanced by the same hand to securethe seal. No loss of time is sustained in setting the lock, and at thesame time the opening in the seal may be comparatively roughly formedWithout interfering with the described engagement.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing 'from the spirit orsacrificing any ofthe advantages of this invention.

I-Iaving described my invention, what I claim is l. In a seal-lock, thecombination with a seal-seat and a movable member arranged in rearthereof, for advancement in a direction intersecting the plane of thesame, of a seal having an opening to receive, and expose for inspection,the front end of said movable member, the opening in the seal being ofgreater area than the cross-section of the engaging portion of themovable member, to fit loosely on the latter and prevent the temporarytting of a false plug, of the same crosssectional area as the movablemember, in said opening, substantially as specified.

2. A frangible seal having an opening extending entirely therethrough,in combination with a lock-casing having a seat into which the seal maybe slid, a locking-pin mounted in rear for advancement in a directionintersecting the plane of the seal, and adapted to engage land iitloosely at its front end in the opening of the seal to prevent theunseating thereof, and locking devices for the locking-pin, includingactuating means arranged in rear of and held inoperative by the seal,and visible through said opening in the seal between the -sides of theopening and the engaging pin, substantially as speciiied.

3.. As a new article of manufacture, a frangible seal having an openingfor engagement by the movable member of a lock, which opening is ofgreater area than the cross-section of the engaging portion of saidmember, to allow view through the opening, between its walls and thesides of the engaging member, and prevent fitting the opening with afalse plug of the same, or approximately the same, cross-sectional areaas said movable member, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

NV. K. EDGAR.

Vitnesses:

JOHN H. Sleenns, ROBERT E. CRUMP.

